


abundance of hope

by orphan_account



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, a bunch of whump prompts, anyway enjoy this, basically extra gay, because i’m bad at graphic stuff, blood and stuff but not detailed, from tumblr i think, like one hundred of them, merthur drabbles, sorry for this shit tags, super gay emo angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:28:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22963177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: where i write merthur drabbles inspired by 100 different whump prompts from tumblr
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Kudos: 34





	1. “don’t touch them!”

**Author's Note:**

> here’s the first prompt! i hope you guys enjoy this and please comment below and tell me how to improve, thank you so much!

with morgana attacking the citadel, the whole castle was bustling and busy. there was gaius and gwen, both standing in a large hall as they tended to citizens and injured knights, the chefs who were cooking and cooking and storing the food and not to mention all the castle staff who were working on getting the weapons out.

merlin, however, was chasing after arthur as he fought against the men morgana had sent as they began to break through a weak spot in the castle. one that kilgharrah had made and the staff had never got around to fixing. just a few small blocks missing, really. only an entrance for the enemies of camelot to move through and have the good opportunity of killing the king of camelot with.

“arthur!” merlin yelled, eyes flickering around the room as he stumbled back from the king pushing him away, trying to get him to safety. 

merlin did the only thing he could and quickly grabbed a sword that had been hung to the wall, pulling it down with a hard shove of his magic to aid his weak strength of a pull. once he had it in his hands, he quickly rushed towards arthur, standing back-to-back with him as he held the sword up, gulping.

now, don’t get him wrong, merlin was a horrible swordsman. hell, he had only held a sword about four times in his lifetime and he’s ended up cutting himself three out of those four times. 

and he hated injuring people. even if they were horrible people. but he knew that he had to do it for arthur and for the future of camelot. so he began swinging violently. a beautiful contrast to arthur’s well calculated swings. 

their personalities contradicted their swordsmanship. merlin, a brash, delicate and gangly boy with smart and witty comebacks, always being calculated in the way he snarkily remarked, would swing the sword violently and suddenly, much like arthur’s personality. arthur swing his sword gracefully, calculated movements with a thought behind every step. nothing like his act before you think personality, no way at all. and that’s why they worked so well together.

well, that was until arthur’s sword clattered to the ground and one of the meant grabbed onto him, pulling the king in close as he forces him to his knees, holding the tip of his sword underneath his chin.

just as merlin sliced across the last man’s arm, he turned to smile at arthur, as if they had succeeded and won, but all he was met with was arthur on his knees, closer to death than the young warlock had ever seen. 

he hadn’t even noticed the large gash across his arm that arthur had ended up with.

the young warlock’s eyes widened frantically, instantly clutching the sword close as he saw arthur’s usually calm and composed eyes. all he could see was the attempt to mask fear which made him even more frantic.

“don’t touch him!” merlin yelled, voice booming like arthur had never heard before. scratch that, arthur had never heard merlin yell in an authoritative way ever.

the man chuckled sourly, “the lady morgana has ordered me to kill him. slow and painfully. and his precious emrys isn’t here to help him now. it’s so unfortunate that he seems to turn to magic when he needs it the most.” 

merlin clenched his jaw as arthur’s eyes softened. almost as if he were accepting this. this wasn’t the arthur that merlin knew. he wouldn’t let the king spend his last moments wallowing in self pity as he stared into the eyes of his killer. no.

he’d let his king watch as his faithful manservant defended him like he had promised many, many moons ago.

“let him go.” merlin spoke, voice not wavering once.

the man chuckled, “you don’t even know how to use a sword,” he spoke, pushing the sword against arthur’s throat so that it pierced the skin. merlin noticed how some blood oozed out. nothing too major though.

“i don’t need to know.”

the man chuckled once more, “oh, really?” he asked, smirking.

he then pulled the sword away from arthur’s throat and quickly slashed against the king’s leg, possibly so he couldn’t stand up and defend his manservant. it resulted in a grunt and drop to the floor, arthur’s eyes widening as he realised he couldn’t protect his merlin. his merlin. 

merlin made a show of raising his eyebrow and then dropping the sword. he ignored the muffled grunt coming from arthur, who thought merlin had just given away his life.

“isn’t it a shame that your king can’t protect you. that emrys isn’t here to solve all of your puny problems. you are nothing but a serving boy and you will die like someone of your standard should.” 

to arthur’s surprise, merlin chuckled. 

“i am much more than that.”

those words sent a shiver down arthur’s spine. okay, perhaps it was all the gashes on his body but it could have also been shivers from his words. arthur honestly couldn’t tell which was which at this point. he was too engrossed in keeping his eyes open to watch.

as the man suddenly thrusted the sword forwards, as if to run merlin through, arthur yelled loudly from despair, convinced his gangly manservant was going to die. 

but then his eyes caught what was actually happening as he struggled on the floor, blood oozing out into a puddle around his leg and his arm.

merlin’s eyes flashed a brilliant gold as he forced both of his hands in front of him, sending the man flying back. unfortunately, he was wearing a helmet and survived easily.

“you have magic!” the man yelled, quickly stumbling up from the wall that merlin’s magic had pushed him against.

arthur believed his eyes were betraying him as he was growing weaker but he couldn’t deny how real it had felt, the purge of energy as he saw the man flying back. 

“you want me to die like a serving boy. to die because of the lack of emrys’ help,” merlin chuckled once more, the gold in his eyes raging and burning like a blizzard aching to escape, slowly fizzling beneath his skin as it awaited his usage, “yet you’ll die at the hands of emrys instead.” 

with that, merlin threw his hand up once more and the man’s helmet went flying. 

before arthur could even register what was happening, merlin had yelled words in a language that was unfamiliar to him, pushing the man back once again. 

arthur could only watch in pain as his head smashed against the wall and he dropped to the floor, bleeding from the side of his head. but once the man was down, merlin’s eyes fizzled back to blue and his posture shook.

the reality of the situation had hit him. he had just revealed his magic to save arthur, but at what cost? arthur would hate him.

as he looked down at the king in the floor, his whole body trembled.

his eyes screamed betrayal yet the rest of him screamed in pain, the gashes almost urging merlin to fix them. the young warlock could even see the pain that was comforting his king’s face. his friend’s face.

he quickly dropped to his knees alongside arthur, who was still on the floor

“you lied to me.” the king spat out, finding it difficult to speak in his condition.

merlin nodded as he gently placed both of his hands over arthur’s two wounds, closing his eyes, “i know,” he said, softly, “i’m sorry.”

“you betrayed me.”

merlin once again nodded, slowly opening his eyes whilst they flashed gold, the brilliant colour humming as he focused, speaking only quietly, as to not ruin his concentration, “i know,” he began, still softly, “i’m sorry.” 

arthur would’ve spoke again, accused merlin of something or anything to have made himself feel better but then he felt tugs on his skin and looked down to see the skin forming over his gashes. his eyes flicked up to merlin, who was considerably paling as the gold in his eyes flickered violently, looking as if it were fighting with merlin. 

which it was. his magic was telling him to stop because he’d be over exhausting himself if he continued, but he wouldn’t allow his arthur to bleed out. not his arthur. 

“merlin,” arthur choked out, feeling the last patch of skin go over his gash. he didn’t even have time to grab onto merlin as he dropped against the cold, hard floor, face as pale as the dorocha that had attacked such a long time ago.

arthur felt exhausted himself and trembled as he shuffled closely to merlin, attempting to pull him close to keep him warm.

he was scared that merlin was dead, but if he was truly emrys, the man who had helped protect arthur, then he couldn’t die. so arthur did all he could and shakily grabbed onto merlin’s torn and dusty tunic, pulling him close to his body whilst wrapping his arms around him.

and in that empty corridor, where no one but he and an unconscious merlin were, arthur allowed himself to weep.

to weep at the attack outside, the screams of his people. to weep at his own pain, even though he’d never admit it. to weep at the cold, hard and brutal betrayal from merlin. but also to weep at the fact that he had nearly lost him. that merlin has sacrificed his consciousness to help arthur heal. 

he was his merlin, but he just didn’t know him anymore. and it made him weep even more.


	2. torture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a merthur drabble using the prompt “torture.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: blood and knives, torture and stabbing. don’t read if you’re sensitive to these things.
> 
> hi, thank you for clicking onto this and i hope you enjoy reading it!

merlin didn’t even know when it happened. one minute, he was out picking flowers to leave by arthur’s bedside, just like he did every morning as he was trying to court his prince. even though arthur always rolled his eyes and threw all but one of the flowers at him. no, arthur kept one of each and put them in a vase.

not that merlin knew that anyway.

he had just found a few small leaved purple ones as he felt a tight arm wrap around his chest, one hand grabbing his neck, applying so much pressure around it that he struggled and kicked, whimpering as the hand choked him. soon enough, he dropped down into the hands, completely limp and unconscious.

he had struggled so much that there were already red marks around his throat which only seemed to please his kidnapper even more. unfortunately, merlin would be unable to do anything seeing as he was beyond unconscious at the moment. 

the kidnapper carried him back, merlin slumped over their shoulder as his arms and legs dangled wildly from being so gangly.

no one would even notice he was gone until later because he was meant to be helping gaius by picking different plants all day. so he was stuck and unconscious, most likely not going to be able to leave.

it must’ve been at least twenty minutes when they got to a dark cave, the kidnapper walking in with merlin, no doubt on their face at all. it was clearly a well devised plan which, had he been awake, would’ve scared merlin quite a lot. 

it must’ve taken another ten minutes to get where they needed to be in the cave and suddenly merlin was on the floor, hands cuffed in metal bands, pushed against a wall. he was still unconscious, showing no sign of waking up whatsoever. this clearly angered the kidnapper, seeing as they then proceeded to kick him square in the gut, smirking at the way the young warlock spluttered and jumped to life, coughing loudly.

they looked down at him with a sharp glance in their eye, smirking, “well, well, well.. what an honour to meet you, i hear you’re the crown prince’s most trusted servant.” 

merlin whined softly from the pain in his chest but leant back, breath wavering slightly from the imbalance of breathing due to the kick to his chest.

when he didn’t reply, they leant down and raised a hand, striking him hard across the face. harder than he had been hit by anyone before. they simply smirked at the sounds of pain that escaped his mouth, soon standing up properly once again and stepping back.

“you will answer me when spoken to.” 

merlin felt shivers at the tone of their voice. they sounded vicious and unstable, yet so calm at the same time. it made him scared, to be completely honest. he was even mentally cussing himself out for being a ‘girl’ as arthur would say.

arthur. 

his arthur. all merlin had wanted to do was get him some flowers. 

his thoughts were interrupted by a hard slice against his bare arm. the kidnapper was holding a blade in their hand, smirking as the blood began to drip silently from merlin’s arm. once again, he had not replied.

speaking in a choked voice, “manservant.. i’m- i’m.. his manservant..” he whimpered out, in a soft and quiet tone. you could hear how scared he was.

“it’s unfortunate he’d be unable to trust you, hm?” they asked, holding the blade as they slowly traced down his arm, watching as his skin began to split ever so slightly with the small amount of pressure, “your precious prince could never accept you,” they paused, smirking once more, “..emrys.”

merlin whimpered at the severity of the use of the name, looking up at the kidnapper for the first time. she was a woman with fair skin and fair hair. her eyes were dark; extremely dark. it unsettled him viciously and he felt more than uncomfortable, including his pain and all. 

he coughed slightly and whimpered once more as she reached his lower arm, pulling the blade away, “it’s unfortunate that he won’t even realise you’re gone. you’ve left nothing to let him know you’re here.” 

the flowers. of course, merlin had thought. it would’ve been the first day in ages that he hadn’t left arthur flowers. surely he would know that there was something wrong if he didn’t have his daily flowers. merlin’s magic fizzled with excitement at the thought of arthur finding him and was trying to escape but the metal held it in, containing him. 

merlin tried to ignore the blood pouring down his arm now. he didn’t like how his skin slowly tearing apart felt but he couldn’t say he enjoyed the feeling of all of his blood on him. 

when he didn’t answer, too engrossed in his thoughts, the woman pulled the blade up to his face, biting her lip with concentration as she made a cut on his face in the most painful route she could think of. a long, slice down from his nose to his cheek. she smirked wildly and stepped back slightly to admire her work.

it made merlin feel sick to the stomach as he shook violently. 

“you.. can’t contain me like- like this..” he began. merlin knew what happened when metal was encased around him, restricting his magic. he knew that his magic would fight back until it fought through. but he also knew that other people didn’t know about this.

“i,” she began, slowly running her thumb across the slit of blood on his face, “can do whatever i like to you. like morgana said to that puny catha. you can separate your body from your mind. but not your mind from your mind. so tell me, emrys, are you able to separate yourself? because you seem to think to much for your own good.” she spoke the last line in a juvenile tone, as if it would be easier for merlin to understand before she gripped the blade harder, prepping to cut him once more. 

“please..” he choked out, quietly, “i don’t want to hurt you.”

she rolled her eyes, looking at merlin with a look that was unreadable, “i would die a thousand times to kill you, emrys. you stood by a tyrant who has brutally hunted our kind. and now i’m going to brutally hunt you.” 

merlin whimpered once more, her words sinking into his head as he felt his magic fizzle underneath the surface of his skin, itching to break free. it was so close. 

he didn’t even feel the burn of the metal on his skin, trying its best to restrict his magic. and he sure as hell didn’t notice the yells coming from the tunnels, someone who sounded a lot like arthur yelling that there were footsteps.

but she did. so she did what she could quickly. without warning, she thrusted the blade into merlin’s gut, smirking satisfyingly as his gut squelched, almost as if it were screaming from the pain of it. all merlin did was grunt and tug at his restraints. he couldn’t move, he was tied up and has been stabbed, there was no way that he’d be okay now. especially since he had no idea arthur was there. 

his mind went to a solemn place, sinking back against the wall as he whimpered. he wasn’t dead, his magic was just begging to get out.

“there,” a voice yelled, merlin’s eyes flickering up just as the woman’s head turned to look. 

standing there, was arthur and the rest of his knights. percival, elyan, gwaine, leon and lancelot. 

merlin let out a whimper at the sight of them. his magic was so close to breaking free and he was scared he wouldn’t be able to control it. he didn’t want to hurt his friend and he especially didn’t want to end up hurting his arthur. he couldn’t do that. 

“a-arthur-“ merlin choked out, his head suddenly flying back against the wall as the woman thrusted her hand towards him, tugging the blade out of his gut and now holding it to his chin, pushing it very slightly.

“take one more step and i’ll run his throat through.” 

arthur’s eyes wandered down to merlin, hiding the pain he felt as he looked at the young warlock struggling and pain. he noticed the large wound in his gut and recoiled slightly. he didn’t believe that this could happen.

merlin whimpered, “a-arthur-“ he choked up as the blade pushed against his throat further.

from where arthur was standing, he could only see the beginning of what was happening.

but he could see how merlin’s cuffs began to steam violently, the way that his eyes began to flicker between a golden colour and his usual stormy blue. suddenly, merlin was shaking violently, looking the woman in the eyes as he clenched his fists. his magic was ready to combust.

it all happened in a blink of the eye, really. suddenly merlin’s fists flew open and the metal chains had shattered. and before he knew it, he was throwing his hands towards his kidnapper, eyes a brilliant and burning gold. arthur and the rest of the knights, other than lancelot, gasped at the vivid use and gust of such strong magic.

she went flying against a wall and smashed her head, dropping down to the floor almost instantly. 

gwaine instantly rushed to merlin and the other knights followed. but arthur stood there, hand shaking slightly as he looked at merlin, who was now passed out. 

not because he had magic and not because he had passed out.

but because he was so close to death and had still called arthur’s name. and now those could’ve been his last words.

it was pure torture to think about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and there’s the drabble for ‘torture’, i hope you enjoyed it. if you like bbc merlin edits, you should follow me @ambrosius.mp4 on instagram!   
> thank you so much for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading!  
> go follow me on instagram @ambrosius.mp4 for bbc merlin edits!  
> please leave kudos + comments, thank you!  
> (sorry that it’s quite short, i originally had another piece written but then i lost it as i forgot to back it up!)


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